Currently not on view
Cross wrapped for burning, KKK Rally, New Hampshire or North Carolina,
ca. 1920
In this image, a burlap-wrapped wooden cross, soaked in gasoline, awaits lighting during a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) rally. As a ritual, the group’s modern use of cross burning developed in part out of the heroization and exaggerated retelling of the KKK as saviors in the postbellum South as represented in D. W. Griffith’s 1915 film Birth of a Nation. The practice remains one of the KKK’s tactics of intimidation for those they target, including African Americans, Catholics, Jews, and immigrants.
This vernacular snapshot treats the charged subject without dramatic perspective or artfulness. Like the identity of the photographer and the location of the scene, the picturetaker’s relationship to the event and the purpose of the image are unknown.
Information
ca. 1920
North America, United States, New Hampshire or North Carolina
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The Museum regularly researches its objects and their collecting histories, updating its records to reflect new information. We also strive to catalogue works of art using language that is consistent with how people, subjects, artists, and cultures describe themselves. As this effort is ongoing, the Museum’s records may be incomplete or contain terms that are no longer acceptable. We welcome your feedback, questions, and additional information that you feel may be useful to us. Email us at collectionsinfo@princeton.edu.
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